


Shades of Blue

by Livelongandfangirling



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen, more like canon tweaking, tiny tiny canon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livelongandfangirling/pseuds/Livelongandfangirling
Summary: Uniform /ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/ the distinctive clothing worn by members of the same organization or body(Or, the one where T'Pol finally becomes a Starfleet officer - a slight rewrite of S4E4 Borderland)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Shades of Blue

**Author's Note:**

> So this kind of wafted itself into my head recently, mainly inspired by various fanarts of tumblr of T'Pol wearing the Starfleet uniform she deserved! I also love the scene in 'Borderland' but I just felt like it should have been a bigger moment, so this is what I came up with.  
> It's an ever so slight canon tweak, which I set just before the start of the episode. 
> 
> Also a massive shoutout and thank you to @zephoria and Jacob for being my beta readers!

T’Pol wasn’t surprised in the slightest when the Captain had asked to see her in his ready room the very next morning after she’d arrived back from her shore leave. If anything she had been expecting it the second she was back on board the Enterprise; her honeymoon now definitely over, therefore it was back to her duties as First Officer and bridge Science Officer.

So that morning, at 0730 as per usual, she was out the door of her quarters, dressed in her pale turquoise jumpsuit on her way to the mess hall for breakfast before what she assumed was the usual morning briefing. Already T’Pol was preparing for an onslaught of questions from her crewmates as she entered the mess hall; how was the wedding, did you enjoy your honeymoon, did you _really_ invite Commander Tucker?...

As fond she had grown of her crewmates, they were still incredibly human. (yet T’Pol also knew, deep down, that she wouldn’t change any of them for the world).

Unexpectedly, there was no mass turning of heads, or even gasps or murmurs when T’Pol walked into the room. Only those that happened to be looking in the direction of the door acknowledged their First Officer with a small nod or warm polite smile. Maybe the overexuberant human sense of curiosity wasn’t as prevalent as some of her fellow Vulcans led T’Pol to believe.

With a hum and a nudge of her eyebrow, she walked over to the food compartment on the nearby wall and slid open the door on the middle panel, where sat on a small tray on the middle shelf was a bowl of plomeek broth and a mug of chamomile tea. T’Pol picked up the tray with one hand, gently slid the door shut with the other and made her way over to her usual table towards the back of the room.

As usual for the time of day the mess hall was subdued, only part filled with tired and groggy officers who had just come off the night shift, or had only woken up ten minutes ago clutching their precious first mug of coffee of the day.

Keeping to herself as Phlox wasn’t around, T’Pol ate her breakfast no faster than normal. And only when she went to return the tray with the now empty dishes did someone, Chef bounding in from the kitchen, approach her.

“Good morning Commander!” He called out cheerily before a brief look of worry flashed across his eyes. She thought nothing of it, assuming that he had gotten himself confused. “How was breakfast?”

“Good, thank you” She replied with a small nod. Chef would always seek out T’Pol after another round of trying to attempt Vulcan cuisine. “It was…” She paused, she still felt caution at giving out compliments given just how enthusiastically her crewmates received them. “…almost like being at home” She replied softly, as she clasped her hands firmly behind her back. These days she was almost relieved at being away from Vulcan, but felt quite the opposite at being away from her mother. As expected, Chef stood a little bit prouder, and almost beamed at T’Pol as a part of his voice got caught in his throat.

“Thank you Ma’am. I’ll let you go, wouldn’t want to make you late for seeing the Captain!” Chef stepped away, heading for another table as he spoke brightly to the nearest officer at hand. T’Pol now found herself to be confused, but only for a moment, before stepping out of the mess hall heading for the bridge.

In the seconds it took for the turbolift to reach the bridge, T’Pol didn’t even have the time to wonder why Chef had mentioned her morning briefing with the Captain, for when she stepped out onto the bridge she was met with yet another puzzling scenario. The time was now 0758, by this point the majority of the senior staff would have taken their posts, but not even Lieutenant Reed (who was almost always a few minutes early for his shift) was nowhere to be seen. T’Pol squinted slightly as she looked around and with a small sense of urgency, she crossed the bridge making a bee line for the steps that led down to the Captain’s ready room. Once outside she pressed the door chime and had to wait a few seconds longer than usual for the door to slide open.

When she stepped into the Captain’s ready room at least one of her questions had already been answered as Malcolm, Hoshi, Travis, Phlox, and even Trip had all managed to squeeze themselves into the space between the edge of Jonathan’s desk and the back wall. Even Porthos had made himself present for the occasion, sitting happily as Hoshi’s feet. All of T’Pol’s crewmates and friends shared knowing glances as they all smiled brightly at her. Absolutely none of it made sense, until she turned to look at Jonathan, who hadn’t even bothered to hide the proud smile on his face.

“Good morning” T’Pol greeted Jonathan as if this was just another morning briefing, even though it was now very clear that it wasn’t.

“Good morning” The Captain paused, looking over at the rest of the senior staff before glancing down at a PADD from beside the monitor. “ _Commander_ ”. Given the almost excited murmur that rippled through the room, and the fact that Jonathan appeared to be on the verge of making a speech, it seemed that Chef addressing T’Pol by a rank rather than name was no mistake. “Given the _exceptional_ amount of recommendation letters I sent over to Admiral Forrest along with your official request,” Another pause to give a sly glance to the officers also in the room. “Starfleet had a very easy time of saying yes” The Captain unzipped one of the chest pockets on his uniform, and pulled out three small silver rectangles as he squeezed past Trip to face T’Pol. “The rest of the paperwork finally came through this morning” Ever so carefully, Jonathan pinned the three rank pips onto her jumpsuit below the right shoulder before giving her another overjoyed smile. “Welcome to the family”

In reality, T’Pol was very much aware that she was already considered part of the crew family and had been for a lot longer than a few seconds. So naturally, as she looked down at the Starfleet issued Commander rank pips did she know exactly with Jonathan meant.

“Can we crack open the champagne now Sir?” Travis asked only to be hushed by Phlox after a few giggles.

“I assume Chef has planned some kind of dinner?” T’Pol asked the Captain matter of factly, Jonathan briefly looked down at his boots, chuckling at how she had already managed to either find out or put the pieces together.

“Captain’s mess, 1900” Jonathan confirmed as he nodded at the crew who took it as some kind of cue to leave, not after they had all congratulated her on being accepted into Starfleet, even Porthos walked over wagging his tail, only going back to his bed after being petted. Now that the ready room was empty T’Pol finally remembered to stand at ease. “And there was something else, as it’s your first official day of duty” Jonathan picked up a small wooden box with ornate gold filigree adoring each corner that was sat on the corner of his desk and carefully passed it over to her. “It’s good to have you with us”

T’Pol furrowed her brow as she gently opened the lid of the box, revealing a brass naval compass with a glass face and matching brass hands. The metal looked aged but had been well cared for, as was the box that didn’t look brand new either. It couldn’t have been Starfleet issue, and it certainly didn’t seem recently acquired as T’Pol looked up at Jonathan, who replied with a small smile. “It’s from the early twentieth century, to help keep you pointed in the right direction”. She softly brushed her fingers across the cool metal, taking in as much detail as she could.

“Thank you, Captain” T’Pol, feeling almost overwhelmed, gently closed the lid before setting the box back on the desk. “Porthos can look after it for me until the end of my shift” Jonathan chuckled, keeping any remark about T’Pol’s apparently developing sense of humour to himself, and allowed her to lead the way back onto the bridge.

As promised, at the end of her shift at exactly 1600, T’Pol collected the compass from the Captain’s ready room and made her way back to her quarters after thanking Travis, Hoshi and Malcolm for their kind words earlier on in the day. In the turbolift she briefly closed her eyes and made a mental note to fit in an hour of meditation before dinner. As she stepped out onto the deck, she held the compass box firmly in her hands, terrified that she’d break the compass if it fell onto the floor.

When T’Pol reached her quarters, she stepped inside, and was going to carefully place the compass on her small desk when she caught a glimpse of something on her bed, and found herself briefly routed to the spot.

Folded neatly into a rectangle, and sat at a slight angle, was a science division duty uniform.

T’Pol almost didn’t believe that it was real as she slowly walked over and sat down on the end of the bed. Still holding the compass in one hand she gingerly reached out and brushed her fingers across the blue fabric that still felt softer than it looked. She reached up and traced along the lines of the teal division stripes, that the ship’s quartermaster had also offered to put on some of T’Pol’s jumpsuits as well as an Enterprise assignment patch on the left sleeve.

Now thinking through the events of the day, the quartermaster briefly coming to the bridge just after 1400 offering to make the adjustments to her wardrobe, to now when a uniform that by the look of the neck label would fit T’Pol perfectly was sat in her quarters. All it was missing was the rank pips currently adorned to her jumpsuit. It wasn’t the fact that someone had obviously placed it there that meant something to her, but it was what the Starfleet uniform meant to her ship mates. The spirit of exploration, unity, and most importantly, the most wonderful of all human qualities: the never-ending supply of hope for the better.

Minutes later, someone rang the door chime, and T’Pol being far too engrossed in her latest gift didn’t get up to answer the door and simply said for whoever it was to come in. She looked up at the sound of the door sliding open, and was met with a still proud looking Captain. Usually T’Pol would have stood up to greet him, but she stayed exactly in place with a hand still on the Starfleet jumpsuit.

“Jonathan” She spoke to him softly.

“Quartermaster works fast,” He nodded. “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, none of us would be offended” And if anyone was offended he would see to it, T’Pol was certain. “We just… wanted you to have the option”. T’Pol didn’t smile in reply, but for a second, she wished that she could.

“I’m… honoured” Three years ago when she first joined Enterprise, she had never expected to become close to her human shipmates, let alone enjoy their company, or even become part of their wider family or to call Jonathan Archer a friend. “And thank you again for the compass”

“I’m just glad you like it” The Captain gave his First Officer a small smile as he turned to leave. “See you at 1900, and don’t worry about the uniform” With a polite nod Jonathan left, and T’Pol let out a small sigh as she stood up and placed the compass box on her desk with the lid left open so she could still admire it from afar.

Since this morning she wondered what _‘the right direction’_ meant for her. As she carefully took the rank pips off her current jumpsuit and pinned them onto the Starfleet uniform she at least partially knew. There hadn’t been a second in the past year that she’d regretted resigning her commission at the Vulcan High Command, and if anything her recent visit to Vulcan had only cemented just how better off she was without them.

Once she was finished she moved over to her desk and made a short entry into her personal log, apparently it was the first of May, the start of yet another month on Enterprise.

At almost exactly five minutes to seven T’Pol left her quarters taking the same route she had done that morning heading for the mess hall. By this point in the day it was much more crowded, and T’Pol did get slightly more attention when she entered the room heading for the door at the back that led to the Captain’s mess. She was met with a few congratulations along the way, which she politely accepted, and this time didn’t have to wait after she pressed the door chime.

Captain Archer was the one who opened the door (again it appeared to be a tight squeeze of all the senior staff plus Porthos) and while initially he seemed surprised, his face softened and cracked into a grin.

“Right on time as always Commander” When T’Pol stepped inside everyone turned to look at her mid conversation. It wasn’t until Porthos made his way over and sniffed the trouser leg of her duty uniform and T’Pol’s black Starfleet issue boots that anyone said something.

“Well I’m glad Porthos approves” Hoshi mused with a small chuckle. Jonathan asked if T’Pol wanted to say a few words before everyone tucked into the small buffet that Chef had laid out on the dining table for them. She politely declined, saying only that she couldn’t have been more proud to call herself a Starfleet officer, or to be celebrating among friends.

With that almost everyone made their way over to the dining table, except for Trip and T’Pol. Trip initially said nothing before softly brushing some imaginary just off T’Pol’s shoulder. “About damn time if you ask me” She briefly looked down to try and hide the blush in her cheeks. “Still, I’m glad Starfleet just got a little bit better” And with a small kiss on the cheek, Trip gave T’Pol a small proud smile and joined the crowd at the dining table.

She managed to find a spot to stand in between Phlox and Hoshi, and before she picked up a plate to fill with food, she looked around at her crewmates, friends, and now Starfleet family.


End file.
